Farmers’ incomes increased last year. The Conservatives are now asking the Center Party to look at the subsidy scheme.
New figures show that Norwegian farmers increased their income in the corona year 2020. The average The income per man-year in agriculture increased from NOK 300,200 to NOK 327,800.
This corresponds to an increase of nine percent, shows the operational investigations to the Norwegian Institute for Bioeconomics (NIBIO).
– The development of income is going in the right direction, but it is not entirely connected with the perception of reality The Center Party is trying to sell about Norwegian agriculture, says Lene Westgaard-Halle, farmer and parliamentary representative for the Conservative Party, to Nettavisen.
She believes the income gap has narrowed under Erna’s leadership of the country, while the number of closures has slowed down more than when Sp was last in government. What Westgaard-Halle is critical of is that the Center Party focuses too much on subsidized agriculture and too little on income from the market.
See the Center Party’s response further down in the case.
Norway spends several billion kroner annually on Norwegian agriculture. This is done to ensure safe food production and low food prices.
Nils Bjørke (Sp) warned this summer against limiting subsidies to agriculture, and thought it would go beyond the quality of the food we eat.
– Cuts expenses
Westgaard-Halle, on the other hand, believes that increased subsidies increase dependence on the state. She says that one third of the farmers’ income comes from subsidies / the state today.
– The state must be there, but we must to a much greater extent strengthen the income we farmers get from the market. We need more innovation and new thinking, she says.
The Conservative politician believes that innovation in agriculture is important. She mentions, among other things, agritek, which means smart agriculture.
– The use of new technological solutions in agriculture frees up labor and cuts costs for farmers. This in turn can give consumers cheaper food, says Westgaard-Halle.
By smart agriculture is meant technology such as the Thorvald robot, which weeds for you – and you control it via an ipad, or tractors with solar panels and milking machines.
– Does the Conservative Party want to completely end subsidized agriculture?
– The Conservatives want agricultural policy to a greater extent than today to stimulate efficient operations and sustainable production adapted to market needs as the primary goal. The farmer must first and foremost be self-employed, she says.
– Must get cheaper food
In addition to making innovation more attractive in agriculture, she believes the government must make it easier for farmers to be competitive in terms of product and price.
– Will it not be more expensive food then, if farmers are only dependent on the market to make money?
– No I do not think so. Today, much is locked in the agricultural agreement. We are not rewarded enough for being innovative, because the current schemes for agriculture are not market-oriented enough, says Westgaard-Halle.
– We believe that farmers must have a higher income, and consumers cheaper food, she says.
The Conservative politician believes that several things must be in place for it to become more attractive for farmers to invest in technological innovations in agriculture, in order to streamline operations.
Among other things, she believes that we must establish a “catapult center” for agricultural technology, as well as put in place a pilot program for agritech under Enova, the Research Council and Innovation Norway.
Also read: Erna with pig tackle at Vedum: – The farmer is better off under the Conservative Party
– Scares people away
Food prices in Norway are expected to rise in the time ahead.
Recently, Nettavisen wrote that the price of wheat grain has skyrocketed. Adviser in the Ministry of Agriculture, Andreas Myklebust Moksnes, said that we are dependent on imports to cover the consumption of food grains in Norway.
Jan Erik Eikeland, marketing director at Norgesmøllene, which produces Mølleren’s products in Norwegian grocery stores, predicts that both bread, pizza and flour can get a price jump in Norwegian grocery stores.
In October Orkla also announced increased prices on grocery shelves, due to increased raw material prices and shipping prices.
Westgaard-Halle therefore believes it is extra important to make it more profitable to be a farmer, as it can strengthen competition in the food industry in Norway.
– This means that we are stronger, and can curb more for the import of food from abroad, she says.
She believes in particular that the Center Party should promote agriculture more than she believes they do today.
– The Center Party talks down agriculture. I think they scare people away from wanting to work in agriculture, says the Conservative politician.
She experiences that the Center Party gives too negative a description of how things are with agriculture, and believes they should rather promote what is positive.
Also read: Full dispute over subsidization of Norwegian agriculture: – It is a dangerous road
– The income gap must be closed
The Center Party’s Willfred Nordlund, leader of the business committee, has been presented with the criticism from the Conservatives.
– Norwegian farmers deliver at an international top level, agriculture is a fantastic industry. I mean they should have paid for what they deliver. It is not talking down, but up the industry, he says to Nettavisen.
He says that the Center Party is concerned with strengthening Norwegian food production and income in agriculture.
– It gives great positive ripple effects with over 100,000 man-years, ensures settlement, food preparedness, food security and that Norway can produce food for as large a proportion of the population as possible in line with the UN’s goals, he says.
– Norway looks like it does, and has the natural advantages and disadvantages we have. The Storting has decided that the income gap between farmers and other groups will be closed, he says.
– Prices will be able to go up
Although it is good that the income for Norwegian farmers increased in 2020, agriculture can not be measured year by year, Nordlund believes. He points out that it is biological production that the farmers are doing.
– In 2019, it went down for many important productions – as it also did in 2018 with the drought, he says, and also adds that the pandemic has driven up domestic demand after March 2020.
Nordlund says that the state has to have support schemes for farmers, with the cost level we have in Norway and the objectives that are for agricultural policy.
– This is what provides the basis for a lower price to the consumer at the same time as the farmers get a decent income, he says, and adds:
– If you want to get the income only from the market, and want Norwegian food production, you have to strengthen customs protection to a greater extent than we do today. But then food prices will also be able to go up, he says.
Also read: Electricity price shocks for farmers and gardeners provide more expensive food
– Make them clients
Associate Professor Ivar Gaasland at BI Norwegian School of Management agrees with Westgaard-Halle that subsidies and regulated prices can hinder innovation.
– I completely agree with that. This makes farmers more clients than self-employed people. The farmer’s income comes through public payments and fixed prices, and not from the market, he says.
He believes farmers have no reason to work with product development, because they know that they are guaranteed more or less the same amount from market regulators like Tine and Nortura anyway.
Gaasland also points out that he believes foods, to which farmers supply raw materials, are private goods that are suitable for trading in a market.
– Farmers do not adapt to the demand from consumers, but a subsidy system, says Gaasland.
Believes farmers are chasing improvements
The online newspaper has asked Nordlund what he thinks about Gaasland and Westgaard-Halle believing that the subsidy scheme can help prevent innovation and product development.
– I know few farmers who do not hunt for continuous improvement, precisely to operate as efficiently as possible and take out income. Norwegian agriculture has had a sky-high degree of efficiency over the last 40 years. The pace of innovation is high even with subsidies, says Nordlund.
– The Conservatives do not intend to cut subsidies, regulatory measures and capital instruments to other industries as far as I have registered, he adds.
He says he cheers on innovation and cost-reducing technologies that provide greater benefits from every patch of land. However, he believes that it will not be enough to both close the income gap and reduce prices in stores.
– One must have a practical approach, not an ideological one that the Conservatives propose for agriculture, says Nordlund.
–
